The woman’s smile flattened and she hmphed out a little sigh.
Ivy went back to her groceries, doing nothing to hold back her smirk.
The cashier rang up the last item. “Two hundred and thirty-eight dollars and seventeen cents. Will that be cash or credit?”
“Cash.” Ivy dug the three bills out of her bra, earning a soft, disapproving gasp from Cart Woman, and paid. She waited for her change, then stuffed that into the pocket of her cut offs. Transaction completed, she pushed her cart out of the air conditioned store and into the warm Georgia day.
Hank was already there on the curb, leaning against the squad car looking exceptionally handsome in his uniform and permanent scowl. He looked climbable. Wow, she needed to run some of this energy off and bad.
He peeled off the side of the car and helped her load the bags into the trunk. “I’d ask if you found everything but judging from the bags, you bought the whole store.”
That familiar twinge of panic returned. Had she spent too much? She found her bravado. “If you don’t like what I bought, you can do your own shopping next time.”
He looked at her. “I was kidding.”
“Oh. Right.” She laughed, feeling a little sheepish. “Yeah, I bought a lot. Sorry.”
“If anyone’s going to apologize, it’s me. I had nothing in the house. You fixed that. Thanks.”
He opened the car door for her. She got in, then he went around to his side.
As soon as he was in and his door was shut, she dug the change from her pocket and held it out to him. “Here’s what’s left over.”
“Keep it. You might need it for something else.”
She hesitated, not quite sure what to make of that, then stuffed the bills and change back in her pocket. “Okay. I’ll keep it for household stuff.”
“Use it for whatever. I don’t care.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
She turned toward the window so he couldn’t see her face. He was kind, generous, earnest…he was the polar opposite of most of the men she’d grown up with. Even if he’d been hideous, which he so wasn’t, she’d be worried about falling for him.
Hell, she was already falling for him.
She closed her eyes and took a few breaths. This was bad. The kind of bad that wasn’t going to be fixed by her splitting as soon as the deal was done. No, these were the sorts of feelings that settled into genuine heartache and a lifetime of regret.
She had to call home. Had to talk to Charlie. Had to remind herself why she was doing this.
Or she was going to turn tail and run.
Something was up with Ivy. Something was unsettling her. Hank didn’t need his sheriff instincts or military training to figure that out. Maybe it was just because she was in a strange town, about to marry a strange man from the family who’d been feuding with her family since before either of them was born.
That was enough to upset anyone. Hell, it upset him for a second or two, but women attached emotion to everything. To him this marriage was a business transaction. One he hadn’t given much thought to, although he’d known it was a possibility since he’d understood his place as the pack leader’s firstborn. Clearly an oversight on his part. This marriage was going to last the rest of his life. He would have to find a way to make it work.
And he knew enough to know that making it work meant keeping Ivy happy. Happy wife, happy life was a saying for a reason.
But whatever was going on with her now was her business. She’d come to terms with the marriage in her own time. If she didn’t, she’d be miserable for the rest of her life no matter what he did. With that in mind, he let her be. Suspects he could interrogate all day long. But a woman like Ivy was a complicated creature beyond his ken. Actually, most women were. His mother, aunt and sister included.
He pulled into the driveway and hit the button to raise the garage door. After parking, he got out and opened Ivy’s door for her, then popped the trunk and grabbed two big handfuls of bags. No rat poison in any of them that he could see, so that was a good sign.
He went through the garage, leaving the house door open for her. As he set the bags on the kitchen counter, the knowledge that he’d have to leave her in the house alone became apparent.
What other choice did he have? Bring her to the station? And have her do what? Sit in his office for the rest of the day like she was a child to be watched? Make her fair game for one of Birdie’s interrogations? Neither one of them wanted that.
He sighed. This would be their first experiment in trust.
He almost bumped into her on his way out for a second load of groceries.
“Sorry.” She quickly got out of his way.
“No, you go.” He moved to the side, watching her go past. For a woman with so much outward confidence, she had a wariness about her that was baffling. Was that Clemens’ doing? Had he demanded a level of deferential treatment that had shaped her whole life? Hank set the bags on the counter and waited until she came back. “Why don’t you start unpacking and I’ll bring the rest in?”
“Okay.” She tucked a strand of blue-black hair behind one ear adorned with a silver hoop, then went to work unloading the goods.
It only took him one more trip to bring the rest of the bags in. The counters were full. “You need anything else? I have to get back to the station.”
She shut the fridge. “I think I’m good. I have plenty to keep me busy until you come home for dinner. You will be coming home for dinner, won’t you?”